Originally posted by ronin69 No, no, no... I agree with you, its the winning of competitions as a condition on advancing that I have issues with.

Schools like to have strong showings in tournaments though so competition is encouraged. I've heard multiple times of promotions being given if you win or place in a particular tournament, etc. It's not uncommon in the BJJ world. Schools may not require you to compete, but you'll definitely advance faster if you compete and win/place.

i didn't realize there was bullshido in gracie jujitsu. i think anyone who ever wants to learn BJJ/GJJ should start learning now, because i can see in maybe a decade, a whole slew of bullshido jujitsu. get it while theres still some real bjj out there!

I can. In my engineering classes, I've heard over and over again that you don't TRULY understand a concept unless you can explain it to somebody else. I think the same holds true in BJJ. Being a good teacher demonstrates an understanding of the moves and of the game.

An example: I mostly train with blue belts. Their instruction style is to teach me the moves that have worked really well for them in the past. On the other hand, the first day I met Sergio Silva (black belt), he said, "Oh, you've got really long legs. Let me show you some moves that will work really well for you. I can't do these because my legs are too short." This showed an understanding of the game that could conceivably be lacking from someone who was "only" an awesome competitor.

That said, I don't think being a great teacher should be a requirement for a black belt, just another factor to consider.

Still, I haven't run into any high ranking belts who weren't also good teachers, so maybe this whole point is moot, anyway.

"I'm offering straight punch, kick while downed to the ribs or head, and of course- the german suplex...which is one suplex quickly followed by another." - Guerilla Fists

As long as particular GJJ/BJJ schools are merely duping people out of their money, and not actually promoting them to black belt, things probably won't turn into full-fledged bullshido. Those unfortunate few who are getting conned will never get to a point where they can claim to have really learned the art. They will end up poorly trained, with low ranking, and no competition reputation which would allow them to spawn a new bullshido dojo. When a bullshido GJJ/BJJ dojo starts promoting poorly trained students to BB, then that is when the real problems will start.